Donal Curtin • Feb 17, 2015 •
As we all know, the Reserve Bank is in a difficult spot.It can't easily raise rates. It probably doesn't want to anyway, since (as I've argued before), overall monetary policy conditions are already too tight. But even if it did, the Kiwi dollar would appreciate, or at the very least not fall to the levels the RBNZ would like: … Read More
Donal Curtin • Nov 10, 2014 •
Last month I wrote about some residual absurdities in Australia, where there were still bizarre examples of nutbar regulation of the retail trade, and this despite decades of economic reform that one might have expected would have swept away the last of the most egregious nonsense.It left me feeling that "there are still thickets of regulation that are absolutely … Read More
Donal Curtin • Apr 15, 2014 •
It's election year, so maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that, according to (for example) the Herald's account, there's a "Rethink on foreign home-buying" underway, with various parties suggesting monitoring, controlling, restricting or banning it.With ... Read More
Donal Curtin • Jan 10, 2013 •
I like the Reserve Bank's series of 'Analytical Notes' (you can subscribe to the Bank's e-mail update service here if you'd like to know when new ones come out). They're good, practical, background papers which don't have to be scrubbed up to peer... Read More